Bridging The Gap
by CaptainRaz
Summary: Sometimes the smallest of things can fix the biggest of messes.  Written for the All Hallow's Moon Fic Jumble at MetamorficMoon.


This was my entry for the first round of MetamorficMoon's All Hallow's Moon Jumble. My Prompts were Day Of Forgiveness, Mrs Scower's Magical Mess Remover, Action Adventure/Angst and Location Prompt 1 (Armchair and shelves with books).

"Bugger!"

The word was uttered with the heated tone of voice that usually indicated that the owner of said voice had just done something stupid and were annoyed at themselves for it. In this particular household, such words were usually associated with the creation of undue mess, the dropping various objects, the breaking valuables and falling over. Indeed one of these events had just occurred, though the owner of the voice was not usually the one making mess or uttering expletives.

Remus Lupin had just knocked coffee all over his favourite book.

"I'll get the Mrs Scower's," said his wife in a monotone, getting up from the sofa.

"Don't trouble yourself on my account; I'll get it." Remus made to get up from his favourite armchair but was frozen in place by the glare on Tonks' face.

"Sit _down_ Remus! I said I'll get it; I don't need you to baby me!" snapped Tonks. She stormed off leaving Remus to do the only sensible thing possible at that moment, which was to do exactly what his wife had told him to.

He sat back down in his squashy grey armchair with a troubled look on his face. Things had been this way between the two of them since he had returned from his little… abscondment. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that his simply coming back warranted complete forgiveness, but Tonks seemed to have endless patience when it came to him and appeared to possess the ability to forgive him of any of his many misdemeanours. He had put her through the emotional mill this past year, and had separated himself from her for far longer than he had this time and she forgave him; indeed, after barely a week had passed they had almost been back to where they had been just before Sirius had died. In which case, why was she having such a hard time letting go of this; why was she having such trouble forgiving him this time?

Realisation dawned upon him quickly. It took him by surprise and forced him to suck in a breath too fast, making him choke on the cold hard truth of the situation. _She was waiting for him to leave again._

Just then Tonks returned with the Mrs Scower's, forcing Remus to push aside his revelation. He carefully removed the stunned look off his face and hastily turned it into an appropriation of a polite and pleasant smile. His wife merely looked at him with that tortuous blank expression that had dominated her facial expression for the past few weeks. She cleaned up the mess he had made swiftly and efficiently before bustling back off to the kitchen to deposit the bottle of cleaning aid.

Remus sighed as he realised that Tonks had cleaned up the mess he had made on his armchair and the floor and left him to clean up the mess on himself and his book. It was typical of the way things were between them now; he couldn't remember the last time she had touched him. The early days of their relationship had been littered with 'accidental' touches and very deliberate brushes of their hands. But now she almost went out of her way to avoid touching him. He physically ached with missing the feel of her skin on his.

He heaved another, even greater sigh.

He cast a quick drying charm on his clothes and on the pages of his book and fingered the now stained and crinkly pages as he fell into a contemplative silence. Something had to be done about this awkwardness that lingered between Tonks and himself, but Remus wasn't particularly known for his confrontational nature and so was reluctant to force the issue.

Tonks returned from the kitchen for the second time, sat down on the sofa and returned to her own book. It was almost as though she could not feel the palpable tension in the room. Or maybe she could but was ignoring it because it wasn't up to her to dispel it; _he_ had created it, and so it was up to _him_ to sort it out. And he so desperately wanted to make things right between them.

He just didn't know how to do it.

"Dora…" he began, and Tonks looked up. Remus looked away immediately, unable to bear the hurt and the accusation in her eyes. He fingered the soiled pages of his book and found that behind the coffee there was a second stain; a much lighter one.

_Butterbeer_…

He couldn't help but smile as the memory came back to him. Merlin, it felt like so long ago; in a different age, a different world…

"Do you remember…" he started. Tonks looked at him intently, and his smile widened into the lopsided grin that used to light up his face so often when they were together. "Do you remember that time in the Grimmauld library when you spilt your Butterbeer on my favourite book. It would be nearly two years ago now, but it was this very same book." He gestured to the great, dusty tome in his lap.

Recognition sparked in Nymphadora's eyes as she did indeed remember the incident, and a much longed for smile grew on her face as they both shared the memory.

"Oh, for fu-" began an irate feminine voice.

"-Language Nymphadora," chided a mildly amused and slightly dripping Remus Lupin.

"_Don't_ call me Nymphadora, Remus," Tonks said automatically. "How can you be sat there all smug, and so unruffled? I've just spilled Butterbeer all over your favourite book."

Remus raised a mocking eyebrow. "And over most of my person as well, I might add." Tonks started to apologise, but he held up an elegant, long fingered hand to stop her. "Neither of which is particularly a problem for witches and wizards armed with _Scourgifie_s and other magical cleaning aids."

Tonks mumbled something about forgetting about that in embarrassed incoherence as a deep red blush crept up her face. Remus smiled indulgently.

"I'll get the Mrs Scower's," he said mildly.

"No, _I_ spilled the Butterbeer, I'll get it," protested Tonks, springing to her feet. She promptly tripped over the offending size fives and found herself sprawling on the floor looking up at the smirking face of one highly amused Remus J Prat Lupin. "Wotcher," she said meekly from her new vantage point.

"I think that, in the interests of the health and safety of everyone present, _I_ will go get the Mrs Scower's," he said with a teasing twinkle in his eyes. He held out a hand to help his companion up, that mischievous twinkle never once abating. Tonks wondered how he always managed to do that; make fun of her without making her feel like she was six years old again.

Remus left the library to go find Molly Weasley's not-so-secret stash of household cleaning products, leaving a mildly embarrassed Tonks wondering how on earth she was going to sort out his Butterbeer-sodden book. She decided to do a drying charm and then assess the damage from there. Once dry it didn't look so bad; Butterbeer wasn't really very dark in colour, so unless you were looking for it you would hardly notice the stain. She hoped. At least you could still make out the words and, thankfully, the ink hadn't run. The only visible damage was that the pages were now rather stiff and crinkly and obviously much more fragile. But then, Remus was the most careful man she knew, so the fact that the pages would be slightly more fragile than normal was not going to be much of a problem for him.

When he returned with the bottle of Mrs Scower's Tonks noticed that he had already dried and _Scourgified _his clothes, forcing another blush to take over her face. She was the most inept person she knew at householdy spells, and Remus knew it as well. No wonder he didn't trust her to clean up the messes she made; she would probably manage to vanish his clothes and wash away the print on his books. Remus noticed the embarrassed look on her face and raised his eyebrows in question.

Tonks cleared her throat. "I tried to do something about your book. I dried the pages and they don't look so bad now. I really am sor-"

"-There's really no need to apologise; I'm afraid that having one's favourite book turned into mulch is somewhat an occupational hazard when one's girlfriend is a complete and utter klutz," he said with a kind smile as he mopped up the remainder of the stains with the Magical Mess Remover. As with everything he did, he gave the task in hand his complete, undivided attention, and so he missed the growing mortification on Tonks' face.

Only when he was satisfied that the armchair had been cleaned to within an inch of its life did he look up to see Tonks' expression.

"Oh Tonks..." he said, setting down the bottle and moving to enfold her in his arms. "I didn't mean it like that," he whispered as he tucked a lock of bright pink hair behind her ear. "I _like_ the fact you're a bit clumsy, it gives me a chance to feel useful; makes me believe that I'm giving as well as taking in this relationship." Tonks' face indicated that she didn't quite believe him. "Dora, I love your klutziness; I love everything about you, my beautiful, multicoloured, clumsy Auror."

He pulled her tight against his chest as the tears fell down her cheeks, soaking into his shabby old jumper. He stepped back and sat down in the chair, pulling Nymphadora down into his lap. They simply sat there for a while as Remus pressed light kisses over her tear streaked face and rubbed her lower back comfortingly.

"It really does get to you sometimes, doesn't it, your clumsiness?"

"Sometimes," she replied. "Especially when I chuck various liquids all over my boyfriend and his favourite possessions."

"Hey, I said I didn't mind, didn't I?"

Tonks didn't answer; she merely burrowed further into Remus' ridiculously comfy shoulders. They sat there for a while, saying nothing and simply enjoying each others' presence as he drew intricate patterns against her t-shirt.

Eventually, Nymphadora broke the silence. "I love everything about you too," she whispered.

Remus smiled. "Even the grey hair?"

Tonks tugged on a greying lock. "Even the grey hair."

"You're everything I could ever have asked for and more," whispered Remus before pressing his lips to hers.

The world dissolved into nothing around them as they became lost in the sensation of lips upon lips. They were just two people in love, and for one moment in time all was right with the world; nothing else mattered but them.

And the world stayed that way until Sirius disrupted them, demanding that they entertain him and forcing their private little world to revolve around him for a while.

Tears ran down Dora's face as she recalled that blissful day, oh so long ago, when the encroaching darkness was something just around the corner that could be easily chased away with kisses, not a reality that made everyday life a little harder to bear.

"That was a good afternoon," murmured Tonks. "It was the first time we mentioned the 'l word' out loud."

"I still love your clumsiness, you know, even if it has rubbed off on me," said Remus with a bittersweet smile. "I will always love every single little thing about you."

Tonks looked at him, properly looked at him for the first time in weeks. Her gaze was piercing and Remus felt naked under it; like everything unnecessary had been stripped away and all she was really seeing was _him_; just him. It was exactly the same look she had given him when she first met him, and he had known then that this was the first person to really see the man and not the monster since the Marauders.

But now, that piercing gaze felt like a new beginning; for both of them.

"I still love everything about you too; even your bloody stupid martyr complex," she said, the beginnings of a smile playing across her lips; barely perceptible, but very definitely there.

"Dora, I am so sorry for everything. I only ever wanted to protect you, I never meant to-"

"Hush," she said, getting up off the sofa and coming towards him. "None of that matters now; you came back."

She sat herself carefully in his lap, a shy smile playing across her face, as though she is not really sure of herself any more; not sure if she should be doing this so soon… Remus knew that he had put that uncertainty there, and by Merlin he was going to do everything in his power to take it away again. He slid his arms around her still trim waist, loving the familiar feel of her body in his arms. Remus couldn't wait for her tummy to start expanding; irrefutable evidence of their child growing inside her.

"How could I stay away?" he murmured into her long, dark brown tresses. "I really must be the biggest fool in the world to keep leaving you." Remus felt her stiffen in his arms at his words and he pulled her even tighter against his chest. "I'm not going anywhere, love. I promise I'll never leave you ever again; you or our baby."

Tonks relaxed, reassured by his words and by his promise. She allowed a smile to take over her face. "I love you my grey haired, lycanthropic, stupid noble prat, and nothing you do is ever going to change that."

"Good," he said shortly before steering her lips firmly to his.

And then the world melted away, banished by the sensations they were causing each other. Nothing else mattered but the slide of lips against lips, and the feeling of skin on skin. Once more they were lost in their own private universe, where everything was right, and everything would be okay. There was no war, no danger and no darkness; theirs was a world where there would be no battles, no day of broken promises, no grieving mothers and no orphaned infants. In this little world of their own creation the only thing that mattered was them, and their love for each other, and the life that they had created from that love.

Theirs was a world that was fragile and intangible; in which they clung to the present like a lifeline, because the present was the calm before the storm the future would inevitably bring. The here and now was all that they cared about.

And for now, at least, they were happy.


End file.
